Breeding-pen for swine



(No Model.)

B. F. OSBORN. BREEDING PEN FOR SWINE.

No. 436,902. Patented Sept. 23, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. OSBORN, OF NORA, INDIANA.

BREEDING-PEN FOR SWINE.

SPEGIFlCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,902, dated September 23, 1890.

Application filed April 12, 1890.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. ()SBORN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Nora, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usef ul Improvements in Breeding-Pens for Swine, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to that class of pens used by swine-raisers for breeding purposes; and it consists in certain improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts of such pens, whereby they are adapted for a better and more convenient use in handling pigs at the time of birth and shortly after they are born, all as will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional plan view, below the roof, of a structure embodying my said invention; Fig. 2, a vertical sectional view through one of the pens, looking upwardly from the dotted line 2 2 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3, a detail horizontal sectional view illustrating one of the uses of my invention, looking downwardly from the dotted line 3 3 in Fig. 2.

In said drawings, the portions marked A represent breeding-pens; B, receptacles in front of said pens for the pigs; 0, a pen arranged especially for the use of the sow and pigs shortly after the birth of the latter; D D, plain pens, which may be used as required; E, F, and G, corridors running between the pens; H, feeding boxes or troughs in the breeding-pens; and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, O, 10, and 11 the doors, respectively, of said several pens and corridors.

The breeding-pens A are preferably rectangular, as shown, and the sides, except the front sides next the pig-receptacles, are preferably rigidly built in an ordinary and wellknown manner. Said front sides A are preferably in the form of vertically-sliding doors, and adjustable in height, as will be presently explained. The floors A to these pens are tilting floors, mounted on pivots or a rockshaft (1 and are capable either of occupying the level position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2 or the tilted position shownby the full lines in'said figure. Said floors are open- Serial No. 347,583- (No model.)

The ivots or rock-shaft a 011 which said floor is mounted, is located some distance from the front edge, preferably about one-third of the way back. A large proportion of the weight thus comes directly on said pivots or rockshaft, and the'fioor is much more easily tilted thanif it were at its extreme edge. Said edge also raises somewhat as the other edge descends, and thus passes up in front of the opening leading to the pig-receptacle, and the projecting flange 1) on the lower side of said edge thus serves to form a portion of the wall to said receptacle, as previously explained. In said front edge of the floor there is also preferably a channel or groove a formed, which serves as a drain to catch urine, &c., and pre vent it from running into the pig-receptacles B, dischargingit instead at one end of the pen.

The front sides of the pens A are in form, as before stated, vertically-sliding doors. Each of these doors may be raised and lowered by means of a rope R or otherwise, as maybe desired. WVhen a rope is used, it preferably runs over a pulley or through an eye secured in the top of the house and thence to abelaying-pin conveniently located, as shown in Fig. 2. A lever similar to the lever A may obviously be employed instead, if desired.

The pig-receptacles B are practically small pens extending along the front of the pens A. In themselves they are not peculiar to my present invention, being of an ordinary and wellknown construction. They are dividedfrom the main pens A by the vertically-sliding partitions A, which form the front sides of said pens A. The openingsbetween said pens and pig-receptacles may be thus increased or diminished in height, as may be desired, and thus adapted to serve their purpose with larger or smaller sows. WVhen the floor A is level, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, and said vertically-moving partition A is low ered sufficiently, the back side of said pig-receptacle B wlll be entirely closed, as the downwardly-projecting flange b on said floorA will serve as a Wall to the lower portion, and said vertically-moving partitionA maybelet down until, with said flange b, the inclosure is completed. These receptacles are adapted to receive the pigs, so as to keep them from danger of being laid upon and injured or killed by the sow, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3.

The pen 0 is for use to protect the pigs from injury, and at the same time have them in the pen with their mother from the time they are a few days old until they are strong enough to take care of themselves. The floor of this pen is lowest at the sides and highest in the center. The sow will naturally lie in the center and the pigs quite naturally seek the sides. In order to prevent the pigs from possibly being laid upon and thus injured, I surround the sides of this pen, except in front of the doors, with, preferably, iron rods 0, arranged a distance from the wall great enough to protect the pigs when they are under or behind them. Oomparatively small rods of this character are superior for the purpose to boards secured at corresponding points with their edges extending into the pens, for the reason that bedding will sometimes become packed under such boards to such an extent that their useful purpose is destroyed, while with these small rods the pigs can escape upwardly in case they should become crowded underneath. Similar rods for the same purpose are shown in the pens A.

The pens D D are plain pens, into which the sows may be driven when it is desired to separate them from the pigs for any purpose, as when it is desired to feed them separately. They may be also used for the pigs while being weaned.

The corridors E, F, and G may all be run together, or they may be separated by the doors 3 and 4. These doors may be operated in any desired manner; but I prefer to have them pivoted at the lower edges, so as to fall flat when they are opened, and thus be completely out of the way. The door 3 is shown as raised to closed position, while the door 4 is shown as thrown down in open position. It will be readily understood by the manipulation of these doors that the swine may be driven from either of the pens to either of the others without danger of their getting to any place where they are not wanted.

The doors 1 and 2, by which the corridors and the house as a whole are entered, are preferably common swinging doors, although they may be sliding doors, if desired. The doors 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are preferably hung in the same manner that the verticallymoving partition A is, although they may be swinging or sliding doors, if desired. The use of all these doors in controlling the swine and causing them to pass from one part of a structure to any other desired part will be readily apparent.

The feeding-troughs II to the breeding-pens are comparatively small in size, and are preferably secured to Vertical sides H, which are long enough to extend from Where the trough is to be located in use to above the top of the pen, where they are secured together by a common cross-bar. At the center and to the other side of this cross-bar is preferably secured a vertical arm H which extends down on the outside of the pen, and the three arms thus serve as a guide or clamp to hold the trough in position.

Secured to the cross-bar, and extending preferably up over a pulley or through an eye in the'top of the house, is a rope H by which the trough may be raised and lowered. It is desirable in feeding to raise the trough to a point out of the reach of the sow, and.

then after the food is placed therein to lower it to a position for use. The structure shown enables this to be conveniently done.-

The use of my said invention may be explained as follows: Itis well known that sows are quite apt to kill their pigs when first born or shortly afterward by lying upon them or against them, crowding them against the sides of the pen. My said invention is to prevent this and to enable the sows and pigs to both be conveniently handled and controlled. In operation I place a sow in one of the pens A a short time before the expected birth of the pigs, at first leaving the floor A in its horizontal position until she shall become accustomed to the pen. Then just before the birth of the pigs is expected I raise the rear side of the floor by means of the lever A or otherwise, giving said floor its inclined position, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. After this is done, the sow, when lying down, will naturally lie with her back toward the high est side of the pen, and thus the-front of the pig-receptacle B being open when the pigs are born,they will naturally pass underneath the rods 0 and through said opening to said pig-receptacle, out of harms way, but still in position where they can conveniently reach the breasts of the sow when she is lying down. A few days after the pigs are born I prefer to transfer them from this pen to the pen C, where they are protected by the rods 0, as

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has heretofore been explained. During the first few days of their life they occupy the receptacle B, where they can be easily examined, and should any die or be found to be deformed they can be easily removed without disturbing or exciting the sow.

Should it be desirable to part the sow completely from her pigs, temporarily or otherwise, it can be done by permitting the floor A to resume its horizontal position and slightly loweringthe vertically-moving front side A.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a-breedingpen for hogs, of a main pen, a pig-receptacle located alongside said pen, a tilting floor to said pen mounted on pivots at considerable distance from its front edge, whereby when said floor is permitted to resume its horizontal position said front edge will be raised up and partially close said pig-receptacle, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a breeding-pen for swine, of a floor raised in its center and slopingin all directions to its sides, and guardrods located around said sides a short distance therefrom and above said floor, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, in a breeding-pen for swine, of a main pen having a tilting floor pivoted at a distance from its edge, a pig-re BENJAMIN F. OSBORN.

Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, J AMES A. WALsH. 

